No Perfect Endings
by Jaclyn Parker
Summary: One year later for Carly and Jack...


**Author's Note at the end :)  
><strong>

No Perfect Endings  
>by Jaclyn Parker<p>

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><p>A shrill cry cut through the early morning quiet and within moments was echoing throughout the house. Inside of one bedroom in particular, it was accompanied by two loud groans and mutters of very inappropriate language.<p>

"Your turn."

"It is not _my_ turn, it is _your_ turn."

"I'm the one who got up at two in the morning!"

"That's because I'm the one who came home at one in the morning from working a graveyard shift!"

Before either party could argue another point, a pounding on the door resounded throughout their room. Both adults stopped mid-argument and turned their attention to the door.

"Don't worry, you lazy bums, _I_ got it."

A third voice called to them from the hallway. Sure enough, a few moments later the crying ceased and silence reigned over the Snyder household once more.

"Um, did our thirteen year old daughter just call us lazy bums?" Carly asked, arching an eyebrow as she sat up in bed to look down at Jack.

Jack frowned for a moment and then nodded. He immediately began adjusting the comforter around his body, trying to get comfortable in the bed again.

"Yup...and I'm okay with that."

Carly's eyebrow went up even further and she smirked at him. The smirk faded into a worried frown and she sighed.

"I should probably go help her out. He can be fussy in the mornings."

"Sweetie, he's four months old and she's been helping out since he was born. I'm sure Sage can handle giving him a bottle." Jack said, absentmindedly patting Carly's arm as he fought the pull of sleep again. "I just hope she's not late getting ready for school."

"She doesn't have school today, remember? Teacher in-service day." Carly answered him, biting her lip. She looked at the door again, her mind still at war with her heart over whether or not to go check on her kids.

"Wait, what? Already?" At that, Jack sat up too and frowned. "For God's sake, it's only the second week of school!"

At the vehemence in his voice, Carly turned her face back from the door to him and fought back a smile at his wild bed-head look. Thinking a moment to herself, she reached up and began running her fingers through Jack's disheveled brown locks.

"I think it's kind of sweet that she has off today. At the very least, it's really good timing."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Jack said, letting out a loud yawn and stretching his arms up. "What's today?"

Not two seconds later he was cringing and squirming as he vainly tried to release himself from the iron clad grip his wife held on his scalp.

"Jack Snyder, that is not funny!"

Despite her claim, Jack started to laugh. Eventually, even Carly couldn't stop the grin from sliding onto her face as he cried mercy and gently began to pry Carly's fingers loose from his hair. Keeping that hand in his, he ran his free one over his head while looking at her in mock pain.

"Sheesh woman, like I'm not already worried about my hairline."

"Jack, you haven't really forgotten what today is, have you?"

Jack used the hand he held in his to pull her closer to him until they were barely a breath apart.

"Like I could ever forget the day that you became my wife for the final time. It's permanently seared into my memory and my heart. Just like you."

Carly smiled against his lips.

"Okay that...was a pretty good line." She murmured and he gave her a light kiss.

"You liked that, huh?" He grinned back as they alternated feather light kisses.

"Uh-huh," she replied, her kisses becoming more and more passionate.

Jack took his cue like a pro and pulled her closer to his body, cradling her as he leaned them back towards the pillows.

A second pounding on their bedroom door interrupted wherever they were headed and was followed by a loud shout from the hallway.

"Hey! Everybody decent?"

"Remind me to have the commanding officer at the academy make him do 100 push-ups," Jack growled as their oldest son yelled for them again to make sure they were dressed.

Carly laughed and gently pushed him off of her. After double checking that things were in place they called out for Parker to open the door.

"Surprise! Happy Anniversary!"

All four of their children stood in the doorway with happy grins on their faces. Parker held two steaming mugs of coffee while J.J. was carefully balancing a breakfast tray with two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast. Sage was holding the baby in front of her along with a bunch of multi-colored balloons and trying desperately to keep them out of reach of the curious infant's hands.

"Oh, you guys!" Carly said, her eyes tearing up.

"See? See! I _told_ you she was going to cry," Parker said, looking exasperated.

"No, no, I'm sorry! It's just...this is so sweet of you," Carly said, reaching out for the baby when he leaned towards her. Cuddling him close she looked up again at the older children. "Thank you so much."

"You guys, you didn't have to do all this." Jack said, grinning at them. He bent over to kiss his newest son good morning and then gave the baby his fingers to gum on.

"Of course we did, Daddy. It's our special day too," Sage said, climbing onto the end of the bed and sitting with her legs crossed. "We finally became a family again when you and mom got remarried."

"Yeah, I mean, even though I couldn't be there...it was a new beginning for all of us." J.J. said, coming over and placing the tray down in front of Jack.

Jack looked up at him and frowned at his words.

"You know, J.J., that we would have waited for you if you wanted us to. I still hate that your flight got canceled so suddenly and you missed it. We should have post-poned."

"No, Dad, forget it. Remember when I told you guys I wanted to come home and go back to Oakdale High? You guys didn't even blink, even though the second semester wasn't even over and the fact that you shelled out all that money! Let's just call it even, ok?"

"Deal," Jack said and knuckle bumped J.J. when he held up his fist. They pulled away their hands with their fingers open and wiggled them in each other's direction.

"Oh for the love of..." Carly said, rolling her eyes at their "secret" handshake. "Didn't you two grow out of that?"

"You just don't understand cool, Honey." Jack said, giving her a face and she gave him a mock one eyed glare.

"_And_ we became an even cooler family when Stinky came along, right buddy?" J.J. said, and reaching over to tickle the baby's tiny foot.

"J.J., I asked you not to call him that!" Carly said, frowning at the teenager and pulling her infant son away as if he was offended too.

"No...you said I couldn't call him _Shorty_. It's totally not the same thing," J.J. protested with a grin.

"J.J., I mean it..." Carly let out a warning tone.

"_Okay_ then!" Parker jumped in, finally placing the coffee down on the nightstand by Carly and clapping his hands together. "So we did the whole 'yay for mom and dad thing' and the mushy stuff about family. We all done here?"

"Parker!" Sage cried, glaring at her brother's abrupt attitude.

"What?" Parker asked, shrugging his shoulders. "Come on Sage, even _you_ are old enough to understand that Mom and Dad might want to be alone."

"Oh, yeah...well..." Sage said quietly. She sent a side glance at her parents and then cringed, half out of embarrassment, half out of disgust.

"Besides, I gotta go anyway. They have us running the obstacle course again this morning before class." Parker said, leaning over to kiss his mom on the cheek.

"Be safe!" Carly said sternly and Parker rolled his eyes.

"Mom, seriously? The worst that could happen is that Randinsky could beat me at the rope climbing wall again and I'd never hear the end of it," Parker said.

"Well...still." Carly muttered and laughed as Parker rolled his eyes again before heading out the door, another goodbye thrown over his shoulder.

"Um, so Dad," J.J. started and cleared his throat when Jack looked his way. "Since you aren't going to work today..."

"_Yes_, J.J., you can take my car to school." Jack cut him off at the pass.

"Awesome! Thanks, Dad!" J.J. said and practically ran for the door. Turning on his heel before he got there he hurried back over to kiss Carly's cheek also.

"Happy Anniversary!" He said and before they could blink he was gone.

"Did he always have that much energy?" Jack asked, bewildered at the whirlwind that was their middle son.

"I dunno, but he was always that annoying," Sage piped up.

"Hey, be nice to your brother." Carly said, smiling at her daughter's annoyed look.

"Come on, Mom. He thinks he's a man now all 'cause he's senior. It's my _job_ as the little sister to remind him he's still a dork."

Carly just murmured under her breath, ducking her head to hide her smile lest Sage find it encouraging in her behavior towards J.J. When the baby babbled something and reached for his toes, she pressed a kiss to the soft downy hair on his head.

"Here, I'll take him," Sage said, reaching out for her baby brother.

"Are you sure? We can keep the baby with us if you want?" Carly asked.

Sage just shook her head, taking the little boy back into her arms who went to his big sister easily.

"Nope, we're fine. I already changed him and he's had his bottle. I think we're just gonna go chill on the couch and watch that Baby Neptune DVD."

"You know, I'm not sure who likes that thing more, you or him," Jack laughed, as he made silly faces in their direction. He was instantly rewarded by his son giving him a gummy smile.

Sage bounced the baby slightly on her hip and shot a grin at their dad.

"Eh, probably me," She quipped.

Then, making the baby wave goodbye at them, she disappeared through the bedroom door making sure to close it behind her.

Jack and Carly sat in silence for a few seconds before Jack gave a slight grunt. Carly looked at him in question and he gave her a smile.

"We have some pretty awesome kids," He told her and she immediately nodded.

"I agree that it seems we haven't completely screwed them up yet," Carly said, settling back against the headboard and wiggling her fingers in indication she wanted her plate of goodies.

"There's still time," Jack joked, handing it to her and accepting his coffee in return. She playfully hit him on the back hand with a piece of bacon, which he promptly stole and shoved in his mouth, causing her to laugh.

They ate slowly, taking their time to just talk about this or that and basically just enjoying each other's uninterrupted company. When the plates were cleared and the coffee had been drunk, Jack caught sight of his wife just staring off into the distance.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, nudging her gently in the side.

Carly shook herself out of her daydream and looked over at him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"It was nothing. Not even worth a penny," she replied, sliding her hand along his arm until the end where she interlaced their fingers.

Jack squeezed her hand and rested his cheek on her hair. "Nonsense. You're thoughts are always worth something to me. What's up? What were you thinking about?"

He felt her hesitation before she muttered something under her breath.

"Honey, I can't hear you. What...?"

"I said, Janet! I was thinking about Janet!" Carly blurted out and raised her head to look at Jack.

Sure enough, he was staring back at her like she had said aliens were landing in their bedroom.

"Carly, where in the world...?" Jack asked, turning to face her more clearly. "Honey, it's been what...almost six months since she, Dusty, and Lorenzo moved to New Jersey to be closer to Liberty?"

"I know! I know!" Carly said, releasing their hands to run her fingers through her curls in frustration. Dropping them again on the comforter, she played with the rings on her left hand. "I just...do you ever wonder what our lives would be like now if things...had been different?"

"No," Jack said.

His response was so immediate and matter-of-fact that it startled her into looking up at him again.

"Never?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "You don't feel like someday, _someone_ is going to yank the carpet out from under your feet?"

Jack took a long hard look at his wife and sighed internally. He should have seen this coming. The past year had been a whirlwind of activity; the wedding, J.J. coming home, Parker joining the academy, the baby arriving, Jack getting promoted to Junior Chief of Police, Carly branching out into fashion design again; the list went on and on. Somewhere along the way, the old adage of if it seems too good to be true must have taken seed in Carly's brain and now, it was time to weed it out.

Permanently.

And he could only do that with the truth.

"Baby, I'm not going to lie to you, our life is never going to be a perfect happy ever-after ending with no bumps in the road. It doesn't work like that." Jack said, taking her hands in his and forcing her to listen to him.

"Parker is going to become a cop and I'm worried every day about what he'll be doing once he graduates the academy and is out on real patrol. But I'm also proud of the young man he's becoming and I know you are too."

"I just wish he had better taste in girlfriends," Carly mumbled and Jack laughed.

"Carly, Faith is not that bad."

"Jack, she got our son to steal a car!"

"Honey, they didn't steal it. It was Parker's car." Jack reminded her, but she waved one set of their combined hands.

"Pa-tay-to, pah-tah-to. She got him in major trouble. She's always doing that!"

At this statement, Jack just raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed, immediately understanding his point.

"Oh shut up, Jack." Carly said, wrinkling her nose at him and then smiling. "Okay, maybe she's not that bad. Is it wrong to just hope that they take it, whatever _it_ is, slowly?"

On that point, Jack agreed with her and made a mental note to have another discussion with Parker about that very thing; tonight if possible. Bringing his attention back to the topic at hand, he went down the list to their next offspring.

"J.J. is in the middle of deciding which college he wants to attend and even with some of those scholarships he's been offered, it's going to be tough to swing a couple of them if he chooses them."

Carly opened her mouth and Jack placed a finger over her lips, halting whatever she was going to say.

"But...we'll manage because you and I can do anything and _would_ do anything for our kids."

Carly smiled underneath his finger and kissed it quickly. He tapped her on the nose with it and then a scowl crossed his face.

"And of course, Sage is a teenager now and with that comes a lot of things I'm not happy about."

"You mean, boys." Carly said and Jack rolled his eyes.

"I mean, peer pressure, stronger academics, pushing the boundaries we set..."

"Boys." Carly repeated and Jack glared at her.

"Would you stop saying that!"

Carly laughed and shook her head. "Jack, sweetie, it's okay. She's not going to go out and get married at the 8th grade dance next month."

"Married? Hah! She's not even dating...ever." Jack said, only half-joking.

Carly rolled her eyes, knowing this was a topic she was never going to win when it came to discussing "Daddy's Little Girl" with her husband.

"Okay, well then there's..."

"Yeah, but he's too little to care about anything other than the fact that we hold him, feed him, cloth him, and love him. That's enough for now. For all of us." Jack finished for her.

She smiled, nodding as they both thought of the precious miracle boy they received only a few months ago.

Jack tucked his finger under Carly's chin, making sure she was paying attention when he spoke again and then reached down to intertwine their hands again.

"Carly, the bottom line is that I'm where I'm supposed to be. _We're_ where we're supposed to be. I stopped doubting that a _long_ time ago and I never will again," Jack said firmly. "And today, as my anniversary present to you, I swear all over again that I will continue to love you as fiercely, as passionately, and as tenderly every day for the rest of lives together as I have this past year."

Recognizing his words, Carly sat motionless for a moment and stared at him in wonder. My God, how she adored this man.

Scooting forward on her knees she reached up to wind her arms around his neck.

"Jack Snyder, have I told you lately how very much I love you?"

"Nope," Jack said, embracing her waist and slipping one hand under the back of her camisole. "I'm a sad, sad man."

"Yes, you are," Carly said, throwing her head back and laughing when he pinched her side playfully.

"Stop laughing! I get no loving from my wife, even on our anniversary!"

Settling back down, she crawled her way closer to him, so that she was now straddling his lap.

"Oh really? Well then, I think, it's time for _your_ present."

Her huskily whispered words sent a shiver down his spine and a prayer heavenward thanking whoever was above for the beautiful woman in his arms. Giving him a look that set his entire body on fire, she began to kiss him in earnest. Just when Jack thought he was about to explode from desire she pulled back. He unconsciously followed her, a sound not unlike a whimper escaping his lips.

At her quiet giggle, Jack's gaze roamed over her face.

"Happy Anniversary, Carly." He said, as he tilted his head letting the love he felt filling him shine through his eyes.

"Happy Anniversary, G-man." Carly sighed softly. "And you know that unattainable, perfect, happy ever-after ending you mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah?" Jack said, nodding slightly.

Carly leaned forward letting her lips trail across his cheek until she ended up hovering just next to his left ear.

"I think we're pretty damn close."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: This is just something I dreamt up the other day, knowing that our wonderful couple's anniversary was coming up. It's not perfect and of course, I added a couple of my own ideas as to what could have happened in the time we haven't seen Oakdale on our screens (some that needed to happen <em>long<em> before the show ended but I'm getting off track...) but hopefully, you enjoyed it and it made this day a little brighter. **

**CarJack Forever and Ever, Amen ;-)**

**P.S.- The next chapter of Family Imperfect will be up by the end of the weekend so no yelling at me! LOL XoXo**


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